Sexual abuse of children on rise in Coimbatore The city has seen a 10% spurt in child sexual abuse in the past one year, says a study by Aram Foundation, an NGO that counselled 21,000 children in the 5-16 age group in corporation schools across the city. During the counselling, 1,240 children, including boys, said they had been abused sexually. Last year, the number of children who complained of abuse was 1,010. Latha Sundaram of Aram Foundation, who has been conducting counselling, self-defence and safe touch classes for 50 corporation and government schools for the past five years, said, This is not just true for the corporation schools alone, instances of child sexual abuse across society have seen a surge and many cases are coming to light. This is because people are more open to talk about it now due to the increased awareness. More ... Sexual abuse in sports- The most notorious cases Los Angeles: Former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, who has been accused of sexually assaulting more than 100 young girls, was jailed for 60 years on Thursday for child pornography charges. Here AFP looks at notorious abuse cases to rock the world of sport in recent years Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics doctor, could face life in prison when he is sentenced on sexual assault charges next month. Nassar has been accused of molesting more than 100 female athletes during the three decades he worked with USA Gymnastics. More ... UNICEF calls for making digital world safer for children The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said little is done to protect the children from the perils of the digital world and to increase their access to safe online content. Pointing out that one in three internet users worldwide is a child, the agency in its State of the World’s Children 2017 Children in a Digital World report on Monday, highlights digital divides and explores current debates about the impact of the internet and social media on children’s safety and well-being, Xinhua reported. More ... Sexual abuse recurrent in child marriages- Study Hyderabad: A newly released study on child marriages points out that physical and sexual abuse, domestic violence and depression are common among the girls who were married off in their childhood. Throwing light on their victimisation, the study also revealed that in spite of these issues, only 11 per cent were living separate. The rate of divorce in child marriage cases was found to be a mere 4 per cent. While a number of child marriages are being prevented in the state, experts feel that a new outlook to address the issue is the need of the hour. The study was conducted by MV Foundation in Mahbubnagar, Nalgonda, Rangareddy and Hyderabad, where detailed interviews were conducted with 46 girls who were married as children and 26 others, whose marriages were prevented. More ... Need strict laws to punish customers of minors Social activist Shaina NC’s online petition —‘Direct State Police to Arrest Men Who Sexually Exploit Children’ — launched last week garnered 1,10,000 signatures in eight days leading to a deliberation on having a state-specific strategy to curb the increasing demand of children for commercial sexual exploitation. More ... Eleven people from two families rescued from bonded labour in city Eleven people from two families from Krishnagiri were rescued by the Bengaluru Urban District Administration’s South Sub-Division and the Labour Department on Friday from a rock in Jigani. According to International Justice Mission volunteers, the two families were trafficked from Krishnagiri district in Tamil Nadu for breaking rocks in the quarry. The members of one of the rescued families were bonded labourers for the last 24 years, while the members of the other had been working under the same employer for the last 19 years. The former couple has four children and the latter, three. More ... Experts file petition demanding anti-child trafficking units in Maharashtra Citing lack of stringent action for sexual exploitation of minors, a coalition of legal experts, doctors, politicians, academics and child right activists demanded the use of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act 1999 (MCOCA) against the offenders on Wednesday. An online petition launched by the group, directed to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, demanding a special Anti-Child Predator Squad to prevent sexual exploitation of children, has managed to gather over 1.11 lakh signatures in a week More ... Demonetisation linked to plunge in child trafficking Mumbai/New Delhi Business has been slow at the Thakkar Bappa Colony shoe manufacturing hub in eastern Mumbai since the Indian government withdrew high-value bank notes last month in an attempt to curb tax evasion and counterfeit currency. Orders to the numerous shoemakers lining the slum’s narrow streets have almost dried up due to a dearth of bank notes in circulation, say the businesses which mainly rely on cash transactions. More ... | 
